home is where the green is

Finals are finally over. Wahoo! Since this blog originally started as a project for a class, it may seem to shift and take new form now that it is truly able to become my own. With that said, let's get back to green business.

Today was my first day back in my home town of Worcester, MA - a historically industrial city that is, today, somewhat rundown (even though it still has its charming parts), and doesn't seem to have too much green about it except for the fact that it happens to be situated in the heart of the great green state of Massachusetts. Still, I spent the day with my sister and my friends romping around the city visiting some old and discovering some new green hot spots along the way.

Even though I put a green theme to every place I went today, what I first realized was how difficulty it is to be true blue green when I am away from my college campus. I can no longer walk everywhere, and although there is some public transit around these parts, it's easy to give into the convenience of driving. Fortunately, I stayed pretty much in the same area all day so we didn't drive too far.

First stop was a lunch date with my sister at the new Asian/vegetarian eatery, Buddha Hut, which opened a few months ago about 2 miles from home for me. (If I didn't have to drive my sister to work right after lunch, I totally would have walked there!) I did wonder however, as I munched on my our veggie lo mein and faux chicken - is eating out or eating in is more sustainable? According to this blogger on Not Eating Out in New York, eating in is much more sustainable than dining out. But I figure, if I'm going to have a special day with my sister and eating out is going to be a part of it, supporting a family-owned, vegetarian restaurant was the way to go. Never mind the fact that the food was delicious (don't worry - those smoothie cups were recyclable).

The next 2 stops were Classic Toy Shop, a local toy store, and Unique Boutique, a vintage/consignment shop just to look around.

Final destination was Tush, a new boutique downtown - and I think one of the only high end clothing stores in the entire city. I had never been and I honestly wasn't planning on going to this designer shop for a while - given the fact that I'm a broke college student and striving to be sustainable shopper. But overall, the experience was a green-heart-warming surprise.

(stay tuned for pictures)

We walked in, and the first shirt that caught my eye was one that read "Little Miss Green." No where on the tag could I find whether the top was made from recycled or organic cotton, but the tag itself was made from 100% recycled paper. At this point I was thinking, OK, probably not going to find anything green here, but then I turned around and spotted some bags on display that looked like they were made from magazines and newspaper. Turns out that they were! The designer, Jen Sherr, a local, uses decoupage techniques to create funky bracelets and decorate shoes and handbags. She also makes really cool bangles. Talk about sustainable style.

Along with Sherr's designs, the store owner told me that all of the jewelry sold in Tush is from local designers. And I was most impressed by an effort by the store to collect old designer jeans that customers no longer wanted. They were offering a rebate for bringing in your reject jeans, and planning to hold a thrift party to re-sell the jeans. The next step is to donate any left over jeans to a local charity come the holidays. It turns out that you don't have to be an ecoboutique to have hints of green.